It’s time to sing the praises of some members of the Lake Orion High School choir program.
Seven students sang as members of the MSVMA (Michigan School Vocal Music Association) State Honor Choirs at DeVos Symphony Hall in Grand Rapids on Saturday, Jan. 26.
The students qualified for this honor after being selecting from a regional-level choir.
According to Choir Director Deborah Fristad, students who wanted an ‘extra challenge? were given the opportunity to audition for one of 16 positions.
‘I help prepare these 16 students on a designated choral number and they then audition in October for formal judges singing the prepared number and sight reading a short exercise,? Fristad explained, noting that those that pass the audition with the highest scores are then invited to participate in the Region C Honor Choir, which performed in Northville on Dec. 1.
Lake Orion had 11 students that were chosen to participate in the regional choir where they once again auditioned for judges for the opportunity to move on to one of three state choirs.
Junior Nicole Ankersen, junior Elizabeth Fitz Gerald and sophomore Alexandra Newman were chosen to sing with the Women’s Choir. Junior Pablo Corro was selected to sing with the Men’s Choir, and junior Katherine Gritzinger, freshman Celeste Lang and senior Stephanie Fisher where invited to sing with the Mixed Choir.
To add to Lake Orion’s excitement, Lang was the first freshman to make the Senior High division of State Honor Choir in Lake Orion history, according to Fristad.
She added that the audition process is like a pyramid, with about 3,000 students auditioning state-wide in October for the four regional choirs, with each one including approximately 200 students. From there, they are narrowed down to the three State Honor Choirs (Women’s, Men’s, Mixed) that each have about 120 students.
‘We are still waiting to see if anyone’s score was high enough to be invited to the All-State Choir, which performs in May at the Michigan Youth Arts Festival,? Fristad said.
‘The All-State Choir has just 104 (participants), so the competition is pretty fierce,? she added.